The authors discuss high-voltage power conversion. Conventional series connection and three-level voltage source inverter techniques are reviewed and compared. A novel versatile multilevel commutation cell is introduced: it is shown that this topology is safer and more simple to control, and delivers purer output waveforms. The authors show how this technique can be applied to either choppers or voltage-source inverters and generalized to any number of switches.<<ETX>>

Multi-level conversion : high voltage choppers and voltage-source inverters

In this paper, a new single-phase cascaded multilevel inverter is proposed. This inverter is comprised of a series connection of the proposed basic unit and is able to only generate positive levels at the output. Therefore, an H-bridge is added to the proposed inverter. This inverter is called the developed cascaded multilevel inverter. In order to generate all voltage levels (even and odd) at the output, four different algorithms are proposed to determine the magnitude of dc voltage sources. Reduction in the number of power switches, driver circuits, and dc voltage sources is the advantage of the developed single-phase cascaded multilevel inverter. As a result, the installation space and cost of the inverter are reduced. These features are obtained by the comparison of the conventional cascaded multilevel inverters with the proposed cascaded topology. The ability of the proposed inverter to generate all voltage levels (even and odd) is reconfirmed by using the experimental results of a 15-level inverter.

A Single-Phase Cascaded Multilevel Inverter Based on a New Basic Unit With Reduced Number of Power Switches

In this paper, a dc to ac converter with the ability of voltage increasing is presented. This inverter is designed in a way that just one dc source is used. Also, by using power storage technique and with combining charged capacitors and dc source in series form, output voltage levels can be increased. This inverter is in a modular structure and has the ability of capacitor's voltage self-balancing. H-bridge inverter was not used at the end of the proposed converter and all elements tolerate a voltage stress equal to the amount of input dc source. This leads to remarkable decrease of total standing voltage and peak inverse voltage. Other advantage of the proposed inverter is its potentiality of performance in high-frequency applications. The modular form of the proposed inverter provides the potentiality of extension to higher voltage levels and eases the maintenance. Moreover, considering to the fact that the stress of all components of the suggested inverter is equal to the input source, the performance in high voltage is added to the characteristics of the proposed inverter. The nine-level structure of the proposed inverter is simulated and laboratory test is carried out for the verification of its performance.

A Self-Balanced Step-Up Multilevel Inverter Based on Switched-Capacitor Structure

In this paper, a novel platform for the single phase switched-capacitor multilevel inverters (SCMLIs) is presented. It has several advantages over the classical topologies, such as an appropriate boosting property, higher efficiency, lower number of required dc voltage sources, and other accompanying components with less complexity and lower cost. The basic structure of the proposed converter is capable of making nine-level of the output voltage under different kinds of loading conditions. Hereby, by using the same two capacitors paralleled to a single dc source, a switched-capacitor (SC) cell is made that contributes to boosting the value of the input voltage. In this case, the balanced voltage of the capacitors can be precisely provided on the basis of the series–parallel technique and the redundant switching states. Afterward, to reach the higher number of output voltage levels, two suggested SC cells are connected to each other with a new extended configuration. Therefore, by the use of a reasonable number of required power electronic devices, and also by utilizing only two isolated dc voltage sources, which their magnitudes can be designed based on either symmetric or asymmetric types, a 17- and 49-level of the output voltage are obtained. Based on the proposed extended configuration, a new generalized version of SCMLIs is also derived. To confirm the precise performance of the proposed topologies, apart from the theoretical analysis and a complete comparison, several simulation and experimental results are also given.

A New Boost Switched-Capacitor Multilevel Converter With Reduced Circuit Devices

Recently multilevel inverters (MLI) have attracted more attention in research and industry, as they are changing into a viable technology for several applications. The concept of MLI was introduced for high power and high/medium voltage applications as they can provide an effective interface with renewable energy sources. Developing of reduced switch MLI topology has been a rapid research topic since the past decade, which has not been reviewed so far. Therefore, this review article focuses on the different reduced switch MLI topologies under three categories such as symmetric, asymmetric and hybrid configurations. The important knowledge on these topologies is carefully tabulated based on the three categories in the comparison tables to understand the essential parameters of the MLI topologies. These configurations are not only generating higher voltage levels to improve the power quality but also to reduce the passive filter requirements. Also, this review includes a detailed perspective of various modulation techniques and control strategies for MLI topologies. In addition to that, the different performance parameters of MLI and its calculation methods are discussed with appropriate mathematical expression. This review will help in the selection of appropriate MLI topology for FACTS, motor drives and renewable applications.

A comprehensive review on reduced switch multilevel inverter topologies, modulation techniques and applications

In this paper, two new topologies are proposed for multilevel inverters. The proposed topologies consist of a combination of the conventional series and the switched capacitor inverter units. The proposed topologies reduce the number of switches and isolated dc voltage sources, the variety of the dc voltage source values, and the size and cost of the system in comparison with the conventional topologies. In addition, the proposed topologies can double the input voltage without a transformer. There is no need for complicated methods to balance the capacitor voltage. The simulation and experimental results of single-phase 25- and 17-level inverters are given to prove the correct operation of the proposed topologies.

Hybrid Multilevel Inverter Using Switched Capacitor Units

In this paper, a new multilevel inverter is proposed based on the connection of DC voltage sources in series and parallel. The proposed topology is composed of series basic units that consist of series and parallel connections of DC voltage sources. The values of the DC voltage sources differ from one unit to another. A new algorithm to determine the magnitude of the DC voltage sources of the proposed structure is presented. All of the related equations for the proposed multilevel inverter are extracted and the optimum structure from several points of view such as the maximum blocked voltage by switches, the number of switches and that of the DC voltage sources is obtained in order to have the maximum voltage levels at the output. The proposed topology is compared with that of some of the multilevel inverters presented recently. Finally, the proposed structure and capabilities are reconfirmed using simulation and experimental results for a 53-level typical inverter.

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A new cascaded multilevel inverter with series and parallel connection ability of DC voltage sources

In this paper, two new topologies of multilevel inverters based on the series and parallel connection of dc voltage sources are proposed. The optimal topologies with minimum number of switches and dc voltage sources are computed to produce the maximum number of output voltage levels with minimum blocked voltage by switches. The proposed topologies are compared with some conventional topologies. The proposed topologies have been verified from viewpoint of the number of switches, number of dc voltage sources and the maximum blocked voltage by switches. Finally, to verify the theoretical issues, the simulation results for single-phase 17-level and 41-level inverters are presented. In addition, the experimental results of a single-phase 17-level inverter are given to prove the correctness operation of the proposed topologies.

Saeed Sheermohammadzadeh Gowgani

Papers

Hybrid Multilevel Inverter Using Switched Capacitor Units

A new cascaded multilevel inverter with series and parallel connection ability of DC voltage sources

Modified Multilevel Inverters Using Series and Parallel Connection of DC Voltage Sources